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I don’t have a lot of experience in the music library world compared to many but I have learned that a lot of “what ifs” have very seldom, if ever, materialized, at least for me. I have always followed my gut instinct and I can’t say it’s ever let me down. So, I party on.
+1. I can’t and will not worry about every “opportunity”. Those opportunities are like trying to hit the lotto for most musicians anyway. It is better to work on the things I can control.
But…Art and DI, what if a colleague approaches you and says “Hey, I am onto this opportunity…send me a track that has “blank” sound and I’ll split the fee with you if they buy it.”
That is possible, but highly unlikely. If that situation ever came up, I would simply create something new. I have done a few projects on spec. I was either able to complete them or I passed. No worries, regrets, or consequences.
I would rather submit to companies that I have a relationship and get placements from than wait for the next big trend or opportunity to emerge. If and when those opportunities appear, I will submit new material or let the project go to someone else. It’s just like surfing: there is always another wave coming.
I think your advice is good for you. But it does not make sense to me at all. I do not work with other composers, so my dealings have no bearing on their dealings and vice versa.
Some of you are very passionate about the non-exclusive side of the business. I have had success from that side of the business, but only through a handful of companies. The issue of exclusivity is not even important to me. Making money is important to me.
I want to make money regardless of how the company operates. I have no control over kickbacks, side deals, etc. I just want to write music, have it licensed, and make money. I already have a few hundred cues that I can plug into royalty-free sites. I can continue to make money from those cues.
The real trouble is that most libraries, regardless of exclusivity, will not benefit most composers. I have played the non-exclusive game and I have not found it to be lucrative at all. I am only signing music exclusively to companies that have made money for me when they had a non-exclusive model. I am not chasing all exclusive libraries and blindly throwing music their way. I am just focusing on the companies that have placed my music over the last 5 years.
If someone wants to offer me a few contacts, I would be glad to accept. But I feel better just focusing on the music with profitable companies and letting them handle all of the other work. Despite the opinion of some composers, the good libraries do work hard to get placements and land new deals. They have contacts and they put in the work to deliver music. Remember, that they get royalties as well. They have skin in the game. Not all companies collect tracks, send out hard drives of music, and wait for royalty checks. They are hustling just as hard as the composers.
The state of the industry is in flux. Nobody has any true answers. I know that I don’t. I have no leverage either. That is why I am not worried about it anymore. I do not want to chase anyone down or go crazy trying to make connections. I have tried that in the past and have gotten little success. My royalties are growing. I cannot and do not want to control anything else.
I am starting to work some older pieces in the royalty free world. These tracks have already been placed on shows through various non-exclusive companies. Hopefully this route will work for me.
But in all honesty, I would rather sign tracks exclusively to companies that make me money than to sign tracks non-exclusively to libraries that do nothing. I have pulled music from non-exclusive companies that had sat on my music for 2 or more years with little to no placements.
I am a bit fatigued by trying to chase down music supervisors and new libraries. This game is hard and I am not patient enough to wait it out any longer. Working on an exclusive basis with companies that have already made me money is the best solution for me. That is where most of my new music is going.
I would probably have never made a dime from the old regime. Although my music is good, it is not suited for bespoke purposes. I have good ideas but I would need to collaborate with more talented players to bring out the best in my compositions.
My music would never pass the test to become a part of most of the bigger exclusive music libraries (believe me, I have tried multiple times!) I am a self-trained composer. I am very fortunate that I have music licensed in TV shows.
Recently I pulled music from two royalty free sites that had sold my music for micro money. I placed a group of cues at another site and set most of my prices at $250. I put a few at $100 as a loss leader to get people interested. I have not had great success with the royalty free model yet. A few sales here and there for a few bucks. Hopefully I will start to see some sales from the new venture and begin to make some money.
I am sticking with the libraries that get me placements. I will just treat every deal as exclusive and leave it at that.
Desire_Inspires, its ASCAP, not you…just kidding 🙂
How many tracks you have in your catalog
I have a few hundred tracks in various libraries. I have music placed in over 50 shows. I see that my royalties are growing and growing. But no exponential growth yet.
I get writer’s share in a few weeks. Hopefully that payment will put me close to what you are Art are making. Thankfully, I still have a day job.
I am still jealous of Art and music pro. :-0
They made great money in my opinion. Congrats!
I am with ASCAP and I got my domestic publisher’s check today. Not awesome but money is money.
Wow, you guys are doing very well compared to my royalty checks!
As a generalized example: if a composer has the same 200 varied tracks, tags and descriptions in libraries A, B and C, wouldn’t it be interesting to see how they do in each one?
Not necessarily. Comparing myself to other composers really does not add value. A lot of background info gets missed just glossing over numbers. There are just too many variables to consider.
The stories tell me more than numbers would. Numbers can be used to manipulate information. I can make better determinations from listening to someone’s story and then listening to their music.
Like they say, YMMV.
I am not really fond of ratings either. I like to read responses and stories about libraries here. I get more info from the way the story is told. Numbers themselves do not truly provide meaningful info for me. The “report” aspect of this site is what makes it so great.
@Melissa, ASCAP has its own tracking system. They are not obligated to use Tunesat to help them. I do not think ASCAP is out to cheat people, but tracking royalties is more art than science right now.
Actually, selling some cues at a lower price is a great idea. Taking a lower payment for a small set of cues is a good idea. It gets people interested in your music. But don’t sell everything for super cheap. It is ok to have most of your cues at a higher price. Just designate a few mainstream cues to sell at the lower price to get traffic.
I have heard of Tunesat working for members of other PROs, just not the American ones.